Locomotive fire-box.



FLP. GAINES.

LOGOMOTIVE FIRE BOX.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 24,1913.

Patented Nov. 3, 1914.

a citizen of the Unite oxygen.

FREDERICK F. GAINE'S, or savam'uair, enoaera assreuoe T0 AMERICAN anon COMPANY, or new roaa, N. Y.,

A coaroaerron or NEW YORK.

Locomotive Fran-Box.

Specification of Letters iatcnt. Application filed Jul 24, has. Serial in. 780,965.

Patented Nov. '3, 191%.

'1 b all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I Fiucninzrox F. Games,

States, and a resident of Savannah, county of Chatham and State of Georgia, have invented ertain new and useful Improvements in ocomotive Fire-Boxes, of which. the ,following is a specification.

The object of my invention is to iiicr ease the fuel economy and e ciency in relatively large fire boxes and to thisend I divide the large fire box into a number of S11 sidiary combustion chambers by. means of refractory walls and baii'les, aiid I drive the burn ing gases from one to anothe'yg ofthe se chambers, causing he gasesto e whirled and turned over an over in this movement whereby the gases are intermi gled and mixed and the fuel particles/an gases are brought into immediate contact with the This construction of walls and battles serves to retard the escape of the gases from the fire box suificiently to permit the thorough and complete oxidation of all of the fuel beforethe *ases of combustion enter the lines. These oafii'es and walls also serve to cause the flowing ases to impinge directly upon and trave in contact with substantially all of the interior surfaces of the fire box, thereby obtaining a maximum efliciency in the. transmission of heat through the walls of the firebox to the water in the boiler. I further increase the efficiency of the constructi n by forcing a r through the dividing wal s and causing it to enter into the burning gases in eate condition at many points in different parts of the fire box, whereby the combustion of the fuel is more thoroughly eifected.

Primarily, i divide the large a e box are) a forward auxiliary chamber and a rear main chamber by means of a refract'or, cross wall spaced from the filli-LShGSb and divide the main chamber into two parts i y means of a central longitudihall wall extending from the cross Wall to the rear sheet and both of the dividing walls rising somewhat more than half the height of the fire box. Each of these parts of the main combustion chamber is provided with a grate and with a fuel door, and I cover the forward end of each of them by means of an inclinedrefractory baiiie wall or arch whic rests upon win contact with the upper edges of the cross and longitudinal Walls.

the rising fire box gases to be forced to the rear end of the fire box where they flow upwardly against the crown sheet, and thence they flew longitudt nally through the fire box to the forward end thereof, flowing over the upper surfaces oft e battle walls and over the cross wall to the forward auxiliary combustion chamber. 7 As this auxiliary chamber is much larger in cross sectional area than the space above the baffle walls, the speed of the gases is greatly reduced therein and they are caused to deposit, in the auxiliary combustion chamber, the fuel articles Whichthey may have carried over, rom the main combustionchamber. A fire box divided as described is thus composed of a series of combustion chambers, and, asv gases flow from one to another, they are causedto whirl and roll and be thoroughly intermingled and intermixed. Forthe purpose of introducing heated air into the gases as they rise from the grate, I provide vertical gas assages in the cross Wall and in the longi t These baffles cause upper ends into the fire box, and the strong forced draft, which is made use of in such boilers, causes the air to flow upwardly throu 11 these passages and be discharge into he partialy consumed gases rising 'from the fuel beds. As these Walls soon become highly heated the injected air absorbs heat from the walls, as it flows upward through the vertical passages, and it is consequently forced into the fire box in a highly heated state, thereby serving to assist in the ghofough and complete combustion of the My invention will be more readily understood by reference to the. accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification and in W ich:

Figure 1 is a vertical lon itudina'l central section of a locomotive fire ox, constructed in accordance with my inve tion and taken on the broken line 1-1 of 2; Fig. 2 is a horizontal section of the file box taken on udinal wall openin'g at their lower ends'into the ash pit, and at their the line 22 of Fig. 1; Fig, 3 is a vertical transverse section of the fire box on the line 3 3 of Fig. 1, one baiile wall only being shown; and Figs. 4, 5 and 6 are detail perspective views of the bricks of which the vertical walls arebuilt.

A re box A as shown in the drawings horizontal rows of refractory bricks e comprises an open bottom steel chamber having a top wall and side and end walls. The forward end wall a is the flue sheet, from which fines a extend forwardly through the boiler. The rear end wall a contains a fuel door or opening a one for each side of the fire box, side walls a) connect the front and rear walls together, and the top wall, or crown sheet a, unites all of the side and rear walls. I provide a rigid cross bearer or bridge member B which extends across the fire box and is spaced rearwardly from the fluesheet. I support this rigid member B in position substantially level with the grate by bolting its ends to the mud ring (I which closes the lower ends of the boiler water legs D. This l'nidge member B serves not only to support a refractory cross wall E but also to support the forward end of a longitudinally arranged bridge member or bearer F which I place substantially midway between the side sheets of the fire box and which extends from the bridge member B to the rear end of the fire box. This longitudinal bearer is also substantially level with the grate. The forward end of the bearer member F is bolted to andsupported by the bridge member B and its rear end is secured to the mud ring C. suitable grate which is supported upon the side sheets and upon the bearer member F. "Upon this bearer member F I support a longitudinal refractory wall G which extends from the cross wall E to the rear wall or sheet of the fire box. These vertical walls, as shown in Fig. 2, extend upwardly somewhat above the middle of the height of the fire box and serve to divide the fire box A into a forward auxiliary combustion chamber A and two main combustion chambers A I cover over the forward ends of the chambers A by means of rearwardl i inclined refractory bodies or arches H whic.

. rest upon or in contact with the cross wall E and are supported by the longitudinal wall G and the side sheets of the fire box, and I thereby provide what may be termed a fourth combustion chamber A between the bail'ie walls and the crown sheet of the fire box and connecting the main combustion chambers A with the forward auxiliary chamber A Without the means of adding free air to the burning gases, to be described herein, the division of the relatively large fire box into the several connected combustion chambers serves the purpose of causing the gases tov be thoroughly intermingled and mixed and to be retarded in their passage fromthe'fuel bed to the lines.

The cross wall E is built up of severlal .n the wall illustrated in the drawings there are three of these horizontal rows of bricks, the first row 6 rests upon the cross barrier tral opening 0 which registers with two provided with a side opening 6 to pe The fire box is provided with a.

or bridge member B. This bridge member is of equal width with the bricks and is provided on its rear edge with an upstandiug flange 6 against which the first row of bricks contacts. These bricks are provided on their upper surfaces with central. long tudinal tongues 6 and upon their lower surfaces with complementary grooves to receive the tongues of the bricks eon ing the row next below. Each oi brie is is provided with two vertical cent passages e spaced apart longitudinally cl"? the brick and these passages are so props tioned and placed in relation to the is of the brick that when the bricks of alter nate rows are arranged to break joi shown in the'drawings, the passages one end of the bricks, constituting one row, register with the similar passag in he opposite ends of the bricks constitut 1g as} rows of brick above and below, whe tical passages c are formed in this o wall. The upper row of bricks c of which the cross wall is composed, has a large con openings in the row of bricks below and 's b the discharge of the air, which rises through the passages, into the firebox immediate i below the for ard ends of the balile wall. as clearly ilhistratcd in The brie member B is provided with opening registering with the vertical openings in wall E and permitting the air to enter th passages from the ash pit of the lire box, For the inirpose of assisting in maintaining this cross wall in position, I provide a buck stay which is secured to the forward oi the bridge member and substantially equal to the height of the wall This plate extends across the firebox from side to side and contacts with the forward face of the wall E. The lower row of bricks of the wall is thus held between the flange E on the bridge member and the buck stay plate and the upper rows of bricks in the wall 18 are interlocked with this first row and eontaetwith the buck stay plate and are there by held in position. The wall is finished on its upper edge by means of non-perforated briclzs c having tongues e on their lower sides adapted to enter complementary grooves a in the bricksof the upper row 6" and thus be held inposition'. Each brick, in the wall E, as thus constructed, interlocks with several others, most of them interlocking with four other -bricks of the wall. a

The longitudinal wall G is constructed similarly to the wall E except that the. rbw of bricks g which correspond to the row e. in the wall E are arranged to discharge al ternately into the right and left hand com- Tier;

top or cover row of bricks g are con ernbly wider transversely of the firebox the thickness oi the wall G forming mat may be termed a coping which pro is ts each side of the wall. The openings in the bricks g discharge the heated air immediately below this coping and substantially along a medial line in the firebox, that is, substantially midwaybetween the grate and the crown sheet. The bridge and the several rows of the wall are thereby maintained in position, the individualbricks of alternate rows being arranged in break joint position similar to the arrangement of the bricks in the wall E. The bridge member F is also provided in its upper wall with openings f registering with the lower ends of the passages 9 formed by the pas- I sages in the individual bricks and thereby till the air is permitted to enter these passages from the ash pan. The coping bricks g are provided with oppositely disposed downwardly inclined edge surfaces g adapted to i receive the inner ends of the bricks 72, of

which the arches H are. composed. These arches as illustrated in the drawings comprise a series of pairs of bricks il which are arranged in inverted V form, the inner edges of the arches resting upon the inclined surfaces 9' of the coping and their outer edges being supported upon suitable lugs or supports h secured to the side sheets a of the firebox. The bricks 7L are arranged in pairs and the upper ends of the individual bricks h are provided with integral 1 interlocking parts by which the bricks of each pair mutually retain each other in position. t

The combustion gases in rising from the fuel beds in the chambers A are forced upwardly by the strong drafts commonly used in locomotives at the present day and some of these gases impinge with considerable force on the undersides of the arches it this point they meet the incoming heated air through the openings c and intermingle therewith. These incoming streams of air at the forward ends of the combustion chambers A not only serve to provide additional oxygen for the combustion for the rising gases, but also serve to cause these gases to move rearwardly under the arches and to set up a whirling motion causing the gases as a whole to be thoroughly intermingled and as these gases progress to the rear ends h of these arches they meet air be.- ing delivered from the longitudinal wall through the openings and are further caused to change then-direction of motion and be more thoroughly commingled. These rearwardly moving gases at this point inter-mingle with the gases rising directly upward from the rear portions of the combustion chambers A. and pass upwardly toward the crown sheet between the rear edges of the arches ll and the rear sheet of the firebox. All of the combustion gases are therefore forced toward the rear end of the box in order to rise toward the crown sheet whence they flow forward through the passage A toward the front end of the firebox. As these gases flow forwardly in the firebox, they enter the auxiliary combustion chamber A} from the passage A and are there permitted to expand and the speed of the gases is consequently greatly reduced. Their rate'or flow before they enter the auxiliary chamber A is ordinarily sufiiciently rapid to cause them to carry more or less cinders and small fuel particles, but upon entering the auxiliary combustion chamber A their rate of flow is reduced to such a point that they deposit their burden of cinders and fuel particles therein, and, for the purposes of conveniently cleaning this auxiliary combustion chamber A I rovide it with a hoppered bottom a which causes the falling particles to be collected. in the middle ortion thereof and I provide a cinder out et a normally maintained closed by means of a cover plate a This cover platev is arranged to be opened from time to time to permit the removal of the accumulation of cinders and fuel particles. 1 preferably provide the hoppered bottom a with a refractory lining a" to protect the walls thereof. The fines a lead forwardly from this auxiliary combustion chamber A and the action of the combustion chamber in I causing the settling of the fuel particles and .cinders out of the gases provides what may 4 be termed a practical spark arrester, furthermore the rolling or whirling of the gases as they pass over the upper edge of the wall E serves to direct the'cinders and unburnt fuel particles toward the bottom or lower end of the auxiliary combustion chamber A and thereby assist their deposit therein and the gases consequently pass into the lines substantially free from any of these particles.

As many modifications of my invention will readily suggest themselves to one skilled in the art I do not limit or confine my invention to the specific structures herein shown and described.

I claim:

in a locomotive boiler firebox a refractory cross wall rising from the level of the grate extending from side sheet to side sheet and spaced from the flue sheet and dividing the combustion chamber into a rear main chamber and a forward auxiliary chamber, a longitudinal refractory Wall also rising from the level of the grate and dividing the main combustion chamber into two parallel subsidiarychambers, each of said walls being adapted to discharge heated air into the firebox from discharge openings arranged near their upper edges, rearwardly and upwardly inclined refractory baffle walls covering the forward ends of said subsidiary combustion 

